


A Secret for a Life

by taibhrigh



Series: Not from Around Here [1]
Category: The Losers (2010), The Losers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-02-09 20:53:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1997409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taibhrigh/pseuds/taibhrigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jensen has been hiding a big secret, but to save Cougar he'll risk letting it come to light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Secret for a Life

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [siluria](http://archiveofourown.org/users/siluria) for the beta.
> 
> This was written for smallfandomfest #15 on LJ.

~~~***~~~

Jake didn't know what he was doing. He knew what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to leave his best friend behind to die while running for his life. Then jump off some oil drilling platform in the middle of the fucking ocean and swim, if possible, out of the blast range of an unknown explosive device. Then hopefully not get eaten by a shark or three while waiting for someone to rescue him (if they're good guys) or someone to shoot him (if they're bad guys). All so that he could return to the army that had burned them.

Hell if that was going to happen. Nope, he just couldn't bring himself to swansong over the side of the platform. 

He had no idea where Clay or Aisha were. He had last seen Clay twenty minutes before when his CO had put Roque's own knife into their XO's chest, the traitor that he was. That had been right before Clay had pushed Roque over the safety railing of the oil drilling platform. They been standing two levels above him and he'd been on Level Five. Roque was shark bait, hopefully; and part of Jake was upset that he hadn't seen the betrayal coming and that probably explained his lack of remorse for watching Roque plummet to his death.

Pooch was supposed to be waiting for a signal to come pick them up. Jake hoped that signal never went out; he knew he wasn't going to be the one to send it. If all worked justly, then Pooch could return safely home to Jolene and his kids.

This whole clusterfuck had been Clay's idea. Just one more unsuccessful, last ditch effort to capture Max. That was literally going to blow up in all their faces. There was no way off this platform. The helicopter had been destroyed, the three boats that had been moored at water level were on fire, and at least half of the rescue rafts had been sliced. It had appeared that Max hadn't even wanted his own people to get off the platform.

"Man," Jake muttered, adjusting his hold, "you are heavy. What have you been eating?"

There was a snort followed by a grunt of pain before a raspy voice said, "I told you to leave me."

"Nope."

"Jensen."

"Nope."

"Jake, you need to..."

Jake stopped moving. "If you finish whatever you were going to say I'll leave your rifle and hat behind."

There was a sigh and Jake started moving. The smell of blood and the sound of heavy breathing was the only thing in the passageway for a few seconds until his companion spoke again. "I'm not going to make it."

"Shut up, Cougar," Jake ordered, still moving down the passageway before taking a sharp right into a small cabin. The room had obviously been someone's quarters before the evacuation and shooting had all started, now it would give Jake a place to _hide _.__

__"Jake, please."_ _

__"Listen to me, Carlos Alvarez," Jake said, putting Cougar gently on the bed and checking the wounds. Cougar had taken one of the bullet wounds for him, had the first before showing up to take the second--and hadn't thought to tell Jake about it, and took a third when they went for the bomb. Cougar was dying, Jake already knew that, but he couldn't lose his best friend; not when he could stop it._ _

__Even if the cost was his life.__

 _ _~~~***~~~__

 _ _Cougar couldn't make Jake listen. His friend needed to run as fast as he could to survive this._ _

__"There's something I've been meaning to tell you," Jake started rambling, while pulling what looked to be random pieces of metal out of his pack and pockets. "I mean, I've wanted to tell you, and I mean you, not all the Losers. Just you, for a while. It just never seemed the right time. Not that now's the right time but now's all we have so here I go. You are my best friend. Honestly, you're my only friend and I might be a little in love with you and I'm an alien. I mean from like outer space, alien. Okay, technically speaking I'm a hybrid, my father is, was, human. I mean he's not dead, he's just not quite human any longer and I know I told you all that my family wasn't around any more. That's true. They're not on Earth, so not around. You just thought I meant dead and..."_ _

__Cougar poked Jake in the chest and glared up at his friend. Jake stopped talking and tilted his head in that way that meant he understood what Cougar wasn't saying._ _

__"I'm not joking," Jake answered the poke. That's also when Jake's watch started beeping. Ninety seconds left before the bomb detonated. They were out of time. There was no way Jake could get clear now. He hadn't wanted to die alone but he hadn't wanted to take Jake with him._ _

__He watched as Jake took his glasses off and tossed them into his bag along with Cougar's hat. His eyes changed from their normal bright blue to something between lavender and purple. Markings began appearing down one side of Jake's face, even as his skin seemed to lose its tan._ _

__Cougar figured this was a death-induced dream inspired by Jake's last words to him. At least he did right up until Jake said, "Not a dream. Also, probably should mention I can sometimes pick up on thoughts from some people, and well, cats. Hence the reason they should never be trusted. But you were always calm even when things were fucked up--kind of peaceful to be around when my own thoughts are always zooming around like they are on their own caffeine high. And you are sort of cat; never thought of that until now...huh."_ _

__Jake placed his hand over Cougar's worst wound. He started to scream even as Jake warned him and started to apologize. He could feel the bullet moving inside him moving, feel parts of his body burning and then there was a bullet floating an inch over his body._ _

__"That was the worse one," Jake was saying. "It's the only one I can do. I'm not really good at the healing thing. It takes more concentration and well..."_ _

__The drilling station started to shake. The C4 attached to one of the platform's leg had detonated. The big bomb would be going off any second. Cougar didn't know what was going on. Why would Jake remove the bullet if they were both about to die?_ _

__"We are not about to die," Jake replied, shrugging the backpack onto his back now made awkward with Cougar's rifle. "Well, everyone will think we did, but we're not. You'll see."_ _

__Cougar barely had time to adjust as Jake climbed onto the narrow bed with him and placed the metal device he'd been putting together on Cougar's chest. Jake leaned over and for a moment Cougar thought Jake was going to kiss him--strangely the thought didn't bother him--but instead it was more like a hug. Then the world around them exploded into light._ _

__The bomb. Everything around them was ablaze but Cougar felt no heat. For an instant it felt like they were hovering in mid air but then they were falling through the explosion, the platform, the water below, and then nothing._ _

__Cougar woke to an argument. The fact that he woke would be something he would have to think about much later. Nothing hurt and he felt well rested. For now he stayed still and silent. He kept his eyes closed and just listened._ _

__"But you didn't ask him?" a woman's voice said._ _

__"I was running out of time, Jenia. I couldn't let him die, I, never mind, it doesn't matter," Jake said and he sounded exasperated and a little worried. "Besides, mom told dad."_ _

__"Mom told dad after she found out she was pregnant with me," the woman replied. "You can't exactly hide a baby with purple eyes and hair on Earth. It's why we didn't move back until you were four and could control yourself."_ _

__Cougar slit his eyes open enough to see Jake and his sister. Jenia's hair was, Cougar guessed, lilac. Her pale skin seemed to have a lilac shade to it but he saw no whorls of color as Jake's had. Surprisingly Jake's blond hair, that had once had dark brown roots now had had dark purple._ _

__He watched as Jake backed himself up towards the far wall and slid down it to sit on the floor. "I had to do it, Jenia. He's my best friend. Honestly, he was my only friend. As much as I loved Earth, love tech, I..."_ _

__"Love him more," Jenia finished._ _

__"Shh," Jake said, glaring at his sister. "I hate when you do that and he could wake up," Jake glanced his way and shook his head. "Never mind. Afternoon, Cougs."_ _

__Cougar stared at him and said nothing. The silence in the room was a little too much and Jake's sister finally broke it. "Is he always that quiet?" she asked._ _

__Jake nodded his head, but Cougar thought the other man looked afraid to say anything at the moment._ _

__Cougar snorted. "He speaks enough for two."_ _

__Jenia laughed. "He does," she answered, leaning over and poking Jake in the arm before standing. "Get up, Jacobi. Talk to your human while I contact our parents."__

 _ _~~~***~~~__

 _ _Jake sighed. He didn't know what to say or do now. He didn't know how long Cougar had been listening. "I, umm...still alien," he said lamely. "Also not sorry that I saved you. I'm sure my mom can find a way to send you back if you want to go back. I mean you obviously can't be Carlos Alvarez anymore because we totally are listed as KIA. That drilling platform lit up like, like a fireworks stand that someone tossed a Molotov cocktail at."_ _

__Cougar raised an eyebrow but otherwise remained silent. Jake stood up but didn't approach the medical bed. He watched as Cougar shifted on the bed. He thought about changing back to his Earth appearance but also knew it was too late to un-ring that bell. "The healers say you are one hundred percent healed. They just had you asleep until your body was ready to wake."_ _

__Jake lapsed into silence again.__

 _ _~~~***~~~__

 _ _Cougar stared at Jake until the other man started fidgeting. "Would you stop that?" Jake asked him._ _

__He tilted his head slightly, the edges of his lips turning up to smirk, but didn't say anything. He normally got more from Jake when he let the younger man start yammering. Instead he swung his legs to the side of the bed and stood slowly. When the room didn't spin and nothing seemed to pull against wounds he couldn't feel he walked to the large glass window._ _

__"I'm not really that much younger than you and I don't yammer," Jake said. "I fill the void created by your silence. And yes, the sun has a pinkish tint to it."_ _

__The world outside the window was not Earth and it wasn't just the colors that gave it away. It wasn't even the animals, trees, buildings, flying vehicles--everything seemed more organic in nature; less sharp edges, more natural lines. It was quite beautiful._ _

__Jake was suddenly standing next to him. "We're in Nona. It's kind of like the capital city. Guess you could think of it as the one where all the roads spin out from. More specifically we're in one of the guest quarters of the... my home. Where I stay, my parents' home. I mean my sister and her family live here too. Right, stopping now."_ _

__Cougar thought Jake had said something else but he'd missed it and that's when he noticed that his left ear itched. He went to scratch it, but Jake stopped him by grabbing his hand and Jake's expression looked resigned and sad._ _

__"Umm, don't scratch at it just kind of lightly rub it. It's a translator chip. It would be rude if you couldn't understand everyone and vice versa," Jake said quickly and it took Cougar a second to separate the one long word into all its separate parts that made it a real sentence. "You won't even know it's there in a few days."_ _

__"A babelfish?" Cougar asked, hoping to coax a smile from his friend who had clearly been worried since the moment Jake had noticed that he was awake. Without Jake's interference he would have been dead. Another planet was better than being dead. Having not taken his friend with him into death was even better._ _

__Jake rocked back on his toes. "Sort of," Jake agreed, giving him a smile and nod; even if the smile still looked sad. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but I..." Jake started but didn't get to finish as the door to the room slid open._ _

__A woman more beautiful than Jake's sister and almost as tall as Jake himself entered the room. Her hair was a more pale lilac and rose color than either Jake or his sister's and was artfully done up in some complicated style that Cougar thought only a professional could do to a person's hair. He was also trying to figure out if the rose color was a mark of age or not because other than that, her two children resembled her. Though Jake's eyes were clearly darker, more blue; and a little more human looking._ _

__"Thank you," she said, offering him a warm smile, "and my husband--Jake's father, has blue eyes. And I see why my son likes you so. Even now, with all this, you have a calming presence."_ _

__"Mother!"_ _

__Cougar's twisted into a full smirk before becoming worried about people being able to read his mind. He prided himself on his outward quiet and calm, as well as the inner peace he normally carried._ _

__"Be at ease, Carlos Alvarez, it is a rare gift even among my people and I had to know what would cause my son to break one of our highest rules among those who choose to dwell on other planets."_ _

__Jake's mother all but glided to the window Cougar was standing next to. She offered him another smile as well as her name. "I am Potentate Ameli and you are in part of what the Earth might call the Andromeda Galaxy."_ _

__Cougar's mind went blank for a second as it tried to figure out if the babelfish had translated potentate for queen or president or something else altogether. He really didn't care what planet he was on; but he really wanted to know whether or not Jake was actually a run away prince._ _

__"I did not run away."_ _

__Cougar said nothing just quirked his right eyebrow knowing Jake would answer._ _

__"I," Jake started._ _

__Jake's mother laughed. "He is," she said, a smile gracing her lips. "I see why my son would fall for you Carlos. Why he would risk his life and future, but would not delve past the surface to see if those feelings were returned. You are very important to him. And, you seem to know him better than he knows himself."_ _

__"Mom!"_ _

__Cougar watched as both the tips of Jake's ears and his cheeks turned a deeper shade of lilac as he blushed. Cougar laughed softly._ _

__"Be not afraid, my son," she said, turning to Jake. "Your partner is welcome here."_ _

__Now it was Cougar's turn to blush. "Thank you," he said not knowing what else to say to a queen on another planet who happened to be his best friend's mother--a best friend who was an alien prince who would rather play with tech and babble and who had feelings for him that were obviously more sexual than he had thought._ _

__Jake's mother pursed her lips and her eyes seemed to say _I know what you are thinking_. _ _

__Cougar made himself think of angles and lines, trajectories and flight. Jake's mother laughed, shaking her head ever so slightly as if amused, and Cougar guessed that she was._ _

__"Jacobi," the Potentate Ameli said, turning to look at her son, the smile still on her face. "Show your Cougar around. Introduce him to Nona but do not overwhelm him."_ _

__Cougar noticed that Jake's ears still showed a touch of purple as he answered his mother but had not looked his way. He made a decision and walked up to Jake and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Show me around your home, Jake. We can deal with everything else later."__

 _ _~~~***~~~__

 _ _Jake didn't need a mirror to know he was blushing again. Cougar had just kissed him, be it on the cheek but it still counted, and in front of his mother. He nodded, he could do this, he could show Cougar around Nona. Introduce him to the wonders of the universe._ _

__Everything else, he had to trust, would just fall into place where it should._ _

__"I know just the place to start," he said smiling. "The Amber Falls. You're going to love them."_ _

__**~end~** _ _


End file.
